ou may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, September 15). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0. You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Split Second. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
This play opens on the streets on Manhattan, on the dark and loud night of the fourth of July. We find a black cop named Val, and a white criminal named Willis who are at the end of a chase. Val arrests Willis who attempts to get Val to release him by offering money, flattery, and when it all failed he calls Val derogatory terms. Val loses control and shoots Willis through the heart, adding the dramatic context of the play.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? Be careful when citing the intrustion, it may not be where you initially think it is.
The intrusion of this play occurs toward the end when Rusty asks Val if he aimed, this breaks the usual pattern of the play because Val finally admits that he meant to kill him, and there was no doubt about that. Previously we could believe that Val still may not have meant to kill him after all it takes a lot more purpose and time to aim then it does to simply shoot out of anger. This moves the play forward rapidly because the entire weight of Val's actions are realized, there's no doubt that he shot to kill. He has to deal with the morals, and ethics of what he's done. The question of his moral or ethical innocence is no longer prevalent. The audience and the characters know that Val meant to kill Willis he wasn't simply taking pot shots.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The significance of this time and place is due to it's proximity to the civil rights movement which had only taken place around thirty tears prior, so relations to Black and Whites were still rocky to say the least. The significance on a smaller scale could be the day being the fourth of July, a day that celebrates freedom, independence, and happiness which seems to juxtapose the themes of the play itself.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Val remain the same man mentally?
How will Rusty and Val's relationship be affected by this lie?
Will Val ever be found out?
What will Val's married life be like after this?
Will Val ever be able to come to terms with the moral consequences of his actions?
5. Use Val to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is, dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what Val wants (NOTE: In Split Second the wants of Val are in flux and he is being swayed by his father, his wife, his friend, and his colleague at work. His wants seem to change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that the character encounters.
Throughout much of the play Val wants validation of his cover up, this is seen through the conversation with Rusty, Alea, and Charlie. He seems to be reaching out to find any way in which he isn't like the man he killed. Val seems to struggle mostly with himself, at first he tries to run away from his problems, asking his wife if they could leave town for a few days, but also when he avoids talking about his day at work.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Split Second.
One of the most theatrical moments is the firing of the gun on stage and the murder of Willis, the loud sound grabs the attention of the audience. Another time is at the very end when the lights go out and we see the life fade from Val, revealing a change in character that we presume will affect the rest of his life.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Split Second. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
I think we get good insight into the background of Val through the images of the bulling at the tree, the images of the war and perhaps also the murder of the drug dealer show the circumstances that contributed to Val pulling the trigger on Willis. The title Split Second illustrates the amount of time it took him to perhaps ruin his life and kill Willis.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Split Second.
Justice may not always be "Black-and-White". Racial injustice. Prejudices. Consequences of anger. Perhaps the fallout of PTSD. Father-son relationships. Cultural Divides.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Split Second?
Family in the context of this play is seen through Val and Rusty's relationship. Rusty has always seen himself as the perfect cookie-cutter police officer, which has placed tremendous stress on Val to live up to the legacy of his father. We see the importance Val places on this relationship simply through the dialogue he tells his father how he was always pushing him to be a cop from as young as five years old. We also see it when Val attempt to seek validation when he goes to speak to his father about the situation he found himself in.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Split Second. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
This play opens on the streets on Manhattan, on the dark and loud night of the fourth of July. We find a black cop named Val, and a white criminal named Willis who are at the end of a chase. Val arrests Willis who attempts to get Val to release him by offering money, flattery, and when it all failed he calls Val derogatory terms. Val loses control and shoots Willis through the heart, adding the dramatic context of the play.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? Be careful when citing the intrustion, it may not be where you initially think it is.
The intrusion of this play occurs toward the end when Rusty asks Val if he aimed, this breaks the usual pattern of the play because Val finally admits that he meant to kill him, and there was no doubt about that. Previously we could believe that Val still may not have meant to kill him after all it takes a lot more purpose and time to aim then it does to simply shoot out of anger. This moves the play forward rapidly because the entire weight of Val's actions are realized, there's no doubt that he shot to kill. He has to deal with the morals, and ethics of what he's done. The question of his moral or ethical innocence is no longer prevalent. The audience and the characters know that Val meant to kill Willis he wasn't simply taking pot shots.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The significance of this time and place is due to it's proximity to the civil rights movement which had only taken place around thirty tears prior, so relations to Black and Whites were still rocky to say the least. The significance on a smaller scale could be the day being the fourth of July, a day that celebrates freedom, independence, and happiness which seems to juxtapose the themes of the play itself.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Val remain the same man mentally?
How will Rusty and Val's relationship be affected by this lie?
Will Val ever be found out?
What will Val's married life be like after this?
Will Val ever be able to come to terms with the moral consequences of his actions?
5. Use Val to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is, dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what Val wants (NOTE: In Split Second the wants of Val are in flux and he is being swayed by his father, his wife, his friend, and his colleague at work. His wants seem to change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that the character encounters.
Throughout much of the play Val wants validation of his cover up, this is seen through the conversation with Rusty, Alea, and Charlie. He seems to be reaching out to find any way in which he isn't like the man he killed. Val seems to struggle mostly with himself, at first he tries to run away from his problems, asking his wife if they could leave town for a few days, but also when he avoids talking about his day at work.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Split Second.
One of the most theatrical moments is the firing of the gun on stage and the murder of Willis, the loud sound grabs the attention of the audience. Another time is at the very end when the lights go out and we see the life fade from Val, revealing a change in character that we presume will affect the rest of his life.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Split Second. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
I think we get good insight into the background of Val through the images of the bulling at the tree, the images of the war and perhaps also the murder of the drug dealer show the circumstances that contributed to Val pulling the trigger on Willis. The title Split Second illustrates the amount of time it took him to perhaps ruin his life and kill Willis.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Split Second.
Justice may not always be "Black-and-White". Racial injustice. Prejudices. Consequences of anger. Perhaps the fallout of PTSD. Father-son relationships. Cultural Divides.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Split Second?
Family in the context of this play is seen through Val and Rusty's relationship. Rusty has always seen himself as the perfect cookie-cutter police officer, which has placed tremendous stress on Val to live up to the legacy of his father. We see the importance Val places on this relationship simply through the dialogue he tells his father how he was always pushing him to be a cop from as young as five years old. We also see it when Val attempt to seek validation when he goes to speak to his father about the situation he found himself in.